Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Gr 1—3—Elegantly illustrated but sadly lacking in story or relatable humor, this picture book about the daily life of an odd-looking seashell with eye and shoes (essentially someone's pet rock) falls flat. Marcel narrates, showing readers his "breadroom" (inexplicably, he sleeps on a piece of bread inside a potted plant), his monuments (baseball trophies), his least favorite amusement-park ride (the salad spinner), and his substitute for a pet dog (a piece of lint leashed to a hair). The book's funniest moment—when Marcel watches a movie and enjoys a "large popcorn" with his grandmother—is as stale as the single piece of popcorn that Marcel is posed with. The other attempts at humor will register with neither children nor adults. Marcel himself is a less-than-endearing protagonist with his one, oversize googly eye and plastic Ken doll shoes. Lind's warm and beautifully lit paintings invite readers into a glowing domestic scene, but kitschy Marcel seems jarringly profane and out of place in them. Though Fleischer-Camp's hand-drawn cursive lettering gives the package an intimate, artistic quality, it will be nearly indecipherable for some readers. The line drawings seem to echo the loose zaniness of Maira Kalman's work, but her carefree delivery and more compelling choice of subject matter hit the mark where Marcel's creators flail. Like a child with an imagined universe built around a favorite toy, the authors seem more charmed with their creation than audiences will be.—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI